My wedding ceremony was October 23rd. So, here is a run down of all the vendors we used. I hope it's helpful to all the brides-to-be!
Wedding Coordinator: Margo Livingston- A+
Margo was fantastic! She helped me with anything and everything (including entertaining my 11month old daughter at the wedding)! She gave me vendor recommendations, went to meetings with me, and made sure everything was set up and running smooth the day of.
Hair: Hair Market Salon (Hilda)- A+
My bridesmaids and I all got our hair done at the Hair Market. I had gone there a few times before for hair cuts and color, so I knew a few of the girls there already. The service is great and all of the ladies there are very talented and will make sure your hair looks perfect. Hilda is amazing. She did a half-updo and my hair stayed in place all night long! Great Salon!
Nails: Reve Salon (Ani)- A+
Ani was great! I had her do a french pedicure and a french shellac manicure. My nails were perfect! She was very nice and made conversation with my mother and I while she was doing my nails.
Makeup: Christine Danderand with Blush Artistry- A+
Christine is fantastic. She did two trials for me to make sure I got the perfect look. She uses airbrush foundation, which is great because you don't feel like you have a bunch of makeup caked on. My bridesmaids and I loved her! She is a little more expensive than some of the other makeup artists out there, but she is worth it. With her experience and amazing talent, I wouldn't have chose anyone else!
Dress: Ellynee Bridal- BAfter searching through every bridal store in Omaha, I went to Lincoln in hopes of finding the perfect dress. I knew that Ellynne Bridal had a good selection of Maggie Sottero dresses so I went there. The service is definitely not their strong point. My dress was said to take 6-8 months before it was in, but it came in around 3 months (which can be good or bad depending on your money situation). I went back a few times after my dress was in to try it on and see how it fit. Every time I went back, I waited over an hour to get into a room. Not to mention, I called them the day before I was coming to the store (their "policy") in order for them to have my dress there, and not once, was it there waiting for me. That was very irritating for me since I had already drove an hour to Lincoln. Besides their poor customer service, the store is small but nice. They make you take your shoes off before going back to the dresses, which is something I really liked. That way, if you needed or wanted to buy a sample, it wouldn't be dirty/damaged from people stepping on it with their shoes.
Netbride: Bridesmaid Dresses- A+
I heard about Netbride from another bride on The Knot. From what I gathered, its pretty much a dress wholesaler. They beat anyones prices on dresses and have amazing customer service. They give you free price quotes before you buy as well. There are no returns, but as long as you order the correct sizes, you shouldn't have anything to worry about. My bridesmaids saved over $50 each on their dresses because we ordered from Netbride.
Alterations: Linda Lee- A+
I don' thave enough good words to describe Linda. She is very, very nice. She has the best prices around for alterations and she can do anything you need! She is very quick in her turn around times as well. I know that a lot of other ladies on this site will definitely agree that Linda is amazing!
Gentleman's Choice: Tuxes- A
I didn't have much interaction with them because my husband was in charge of the tuxes. We went together to pick out the styles we wanted, and they were helpful. We didn't seem to have any problems with the tuxes not being correct, so they did a good job!
Jewelry/Guestbook/Card Box/Wine Box: Etsy (multiple sellers)- A+
I absolutely love Etsy. I worked with a few different sellers when I purchased all of my items. Everyone I worked with was great. They all had great communication and fast shipping. The jewelry I received was beautiful and accented my dress perfectly. My guestbook was actually a "make a wish/take a wish" type of thing. It got a lot of great reviews from my guests. The card box I had designed was beautiful. The girl who did it was great at helping me get the perfect look. Finally, the wine box for our wine box/love letter ceremony was beautiful. The wine box/love letter ceremony got a lot of great reviews as well. Not many people had seen that done before, so they were very surprised and all loved it!
Rings: Borsheims- A+
My husband and I have had nothing but great experiences with Borsheims. We went together to pick out our rings. I picked out mine, and he picked out his. This worked perfectly for us, and made sure we got exactly what we wanted.
Save the Dates: Shutterfly- A+
I ordered photo save the date cards from Shutterly. I wanted something pretty simple, so this worked out perfectly. The cards were beautiful and everyone loved them.
Invitations: Invitation Consultants- A+I had my eye on a specific invitation for months. I tried to have a freelance "graphic designer" design something similar for me, but she did not have the means to do so. I purchased my invitations, response cards and envelopes from Invitation Consultants. They turned out better than I ever could have imagined! They were absolutely beautiful. Invitation Consultants has great customer service and fast turn around times. Definitely a great company to work with!
Calligraphy: Denese Mach- A+
Dense is one of the sweetest people I have ever met. She is also very talented. She did calligraphy on my inner and outer envelopes (90 sets). Her prices are great, and she has a good turn around time as well. Definitely a great vendor to work with!
Rehearsal Dinner: Vincenzo's Old Market- A
Good service, good food and good friends!
Venue (ceremony & reception): 1316 Jones Street- A++
First off, Chad is AMAZING! He was by far, my favorite vendor/manager to work with. He is so nice, and was a great help to me for the year I was planning. He responded very quickly to any emails I sent him with questions. He recommended popular foods and went along to the tasting with us. He was all around great! 1316 Jones is a great venue. It was the perfect setting for our wedding. The colors are neutral so we didn't have to worry about anything clashing. There was the option to have our ceremony outside as well. Many of my guests commented on the look and feel of the site. They thought it was a great place and very unique!
Food: Hap Abraham Catering- A+The food was delicious. We had a round of beef, apricot chicken, rosemary potatoes, mixed vegetables, fresh fruit and a few other items. The apricot chicken and rosemary potatoes were excellent! The service staff was very nice as well!
Cake: Dorothy Thompson (Omaha Pastry/Champions Run)- A
Dorothy is very talented. I hired her because I had a specific design in mind for the cake and it could only be done on fondant. She gave us 5-6 samples to taste for our cake tasting. And the night of, the cake tasted fantastic. Everyone loved it and wanted to take extra home. We had a 4 tiered cake and the flavors were almond cake with buttercream and chocolate cake with Baileys Irish Cream and chocolate ganache. She did our anniversary cake in red velevet with cream cheese icing. She is a very sweet lady and wants to make sure you get the cake you've always dreamed of. She does cakes because she loves to, which was nice to know that she just wasn't in it for the money.
Flowers: Mulhalls (Frank)- A+
The Mulhalls team is amazing! Frank is a great designer and helped me come up with the perfect look. He met with me more than once, even after I changed the look of all my flowers. He told me when something wouldn't look right, and offered suggestions to make it perfect. The night of my wedding, my flowers were beautiful. They looked exactly how I wanted and nothing was out of place! They are a very talented group of people!
DJ: InStereo (Spencer Williamson)- A+
I went and saw Spencer DJ a wedding based on a recommendation. He's very nice and very good at what he does. He will play whatever you want, and will definitely abide by a do not play list. He kept everyone on the dance floor until it was time to leave. He had good communication and had a questionnaire for us to fill out about our music preferences for the whole night.
Harpist: Kim Meyer- A+
Kim is great! She is very talented and everyone loved that we had a harpist for the ceremony and cocktail reception. I had a few songs that I really wanted her to play, so she learned them just for my wedding. She was great to work with!
Officiant: Judge Lawrence Barrett- A+
My husband and I both knew Judge Barrett before we hired him for our ceremony. He is so nice and has a good personality. He made the ceremony feel comfortable and not stuffy. He was the perfect choice for us!
Photographer(s): Makarios Photography (Naomi and Rob Yanike)- A+
We have worked with Rob and Naomi on many occasions so it was a given that they would be doing our wedding. They take beautiful pictures. We have never been disappointed with them. We haven't received our pictures back yet, but I have no worries that they will be fantastic!
Limousine: Old Market Limousine- A+
We weren't originally going to use a limo for our wedding day but changed our minds at the last minute. We booked Old Market Limo the week of our wedding. I was very happy that they had a few limos available. Our driver was very nice and professional. I will definitely be using them again.
Rentals: Elite Events and United Rent-All- A+
We used Elite Events for our centerpiece vases. They were the only place I could find that had the size and number available that I needed for my tables. The ladies are very nice. They let me pick up the vases two days before the wedding and bring them back three days after. We used United Rent-All for all of our other rentals. They were great! I changed my order several times, and not once did anything get messed up. They ladies are all very helpful and made sure I had everything I needed for my wedding.
Hotel: Magnolia Hotel- A+
The Magnolia is beautiful! We had a queen loft room, which was more like a one bedroom apartment (it was HUGE). Everyone was very helpful and accomodating. The valet men were very nice and most importantly, didn't damage my car. I would definitely recommend them!
I believe that is all of my vendors. I am fully aware that I gave them all excellent ratings. That is because my day was perfect, literally.
